Successfully bursting through yet another arduous competition, Diamond Bar High School’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) competed in the regional Inland Section Leadership Conference (ISLC), taking place at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga on Feb. 11.
Each year in February, the ISLC event accepts about ten schools to attend the conference, where each team competes in different sections including accounting, advertising, marketing, public speaking and more. This year, the DBHS team ranked third place with overall sweepstakes— one of the only schools that got picked to receive awards and gain a placement for ISLC.
The Inland Conference started with an opening ceremony, where Inland Section officers and candidates for the next officer board gave out speeches. Later, food stalls were set up along the campus throughout the day as the candidates went to their given workshops for an 11 hour event spanning from 6am to 7pm.
Prior to the event, the students had to sign up for the sections they wanted to compete in. Following sign-ups, prelims were hosted to choose the strongest competitors and teams for each subject, and the winning candidates were given a couple of months to prepare for the upcoming conference.
Senior vice president Kavya Narayanan placed second for agricultural business and fourth place in sports and entertainment management. These competitions included an objective test full of 100 multiple choice questions that must be completed in 50 minutes, which were then thoroughly evaluated by the judges to rank the competitors according to their performance.
However, students also had the option to compete in speaking events, which included public speaking, impromptu speaking, job interviews and more. Competitors who placed within the top six of test-oriented events would be allowed to participate in the SLC, while only the two highest of the speaking events would qualify.
“I think that [FBLA] taught me a lot of soft and hard skills. I’ve learned a lot about business through competitions and also leadership through being a VP,” Narayanan said. “Through taking different formatting of tests like presentations, MCQ’s, and case studies, I feel like I have a more well-rounded preparation heading into college and working.”
Freshman Fiona Dai, a first-timer to FBLA, emerged triumphant when she placed second in the Intro to Business Communication and Intro to Event Planning events.
“I love how FBLA is a very diversified club,” Dai said. “When I joined, I thought that it would be strictly about business. However, there is truly something for everyone in this club. There are projects and online courses if you do not enjoy competing.”
It was also sophomore Abigail Fan’s first FBLA competition. Placing seventh in Accounting I, Fan is grateful to have been provided with a platform to network and explore career opportunities. FBLA peaked as a newfound interest to her, particularly in the accounting field.
“While I take pride in my placement at ISLC, I believe that beyond that achievement, my involvement in FBLA has taught me valuable lessons in time management, financial responsibility, proactive behavior, and more. These skills are more fulfilling to me than the placement itself,” Fan said.
